David Robertson may not even have the oddest injury of the spring for any pitcher named David in the American League East.

Rays left-hander David Price Thursday's game after two innings with what the team called a "minor neck spasm." How does one suffer a minor neck spasm? Well, apparently by toweling off the beck of his head just a bit too hard.

Really.

Don't believe me? Ask Price.

If you didn't click on the video, Price said it's happened to him before and he shouldn't miss any time. [Tampa Bay Times]

• Cardinals right-hander Chris Carpenter may not make his scheduled start on Monday because of neck stiffness that has halted his training.

Carpenter canceled his throwing session on Wednesday and said Thursday he's been bothered by the neck stiffness. He was scheduled to throw Friday, but that may not happen, either. He said there's no timetable for his return. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

• Manny Ramirez may return from a sore back on Saturday against the Reds. Ramirez has played two games this spring and was scratched on Wednesday. [MLB.com]

• Nationals prospect Bryce Harper was a late scratch from Thursday's exhibition game because of a tightness in his left calf. He's listed as day-to-day, but expects to play either Friday or Saturday.

Harper said he didn't feel the tightness when hitting, but did feel it when he was in the outfield. [Washington Times]

• Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche played in a minor-league intrasquad game on Thursday, but he's still limited on his injured foot. He hit a home run during the game, but he wasn't able to get a real feel how his foot felt. He said he may be able to play in a big-league exhibition by Saturday. [MASNSports.com]

• Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis will make his spring debut on March 14. Markakis had abdominal surgery in the offseason. He'll DH at first. [Baltimore Sun]

• Reds left-hander Bill Bray had been shut down for two weeks with a groin injury and then stopped his scheduled bullpen session short on Wednesday. Reds manager Dusty Baker told reporters that could lead to Aroldis Chapman moving back to the bullpen.

The Reds have tried stretching Chapman out and using him as a starter this spring, but he could be back in the bullpen with Bray's injury. Chapman is starting Friday in a split-squad game against the Giants. [Cincinnati Enquirer]

• The Rangers' Brad Hawpe was scratched from a B game against the White Sox because of a setback with his right hamstring. Hawpe was supposed to lead off every inning in his first action of the spring, but instead "overdid it" getting ready on Wednesday.

• Marlins right-hander Anibal Sanchez hasn't thrown in a spring training game yet, and there's no telling when he will return from the tightness in his throwing shoulder. He's expected to throw for the team in Jupiter on Friday. [Miami Herald]​​​​​For more baseball news, subscribe to the RSS feed and "like" us on Facebook. Or ...

Pirates second baseman Neil Walker missed Wednesday's contest with back tightness. As a precautionary measure, he's likely to sit out the next two to three games. [CBS Pittsburgh]

While Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts is able to take part in some low-level baseball activities, he still has no idea when he'll return to game action or even face live pitching after suffering multiple concussions.

"It's still a progression," he said. "We have steps that we're taking, and it's a pretty systematic approach so I don't just go do everything I want every day. My doctor lays out a plan every day, and we kind of go by that. I'm definitely better than I was four months ago, so that's good. It's never as fast as you want, but we're getting there." [Baltimore Sun]

Boston lefty Andrew Miller, who's in the mix for a spot in the rotation, won't be traveling with the team on Thursday because of slight stiffness in his throwing elbow. [WEEI]

Mets third baseman David Wright (rib cage) hopes to begin fielding grounders and performing light hitting drills this weekend. It's not certain when he'll be healthy enough for game action. [ESPN New York]

Giants catcher Buster Posey, who's still recovering from the gruesome ankle injury he suffered last season, may see some time behind the plate on Friday, says manager Bruce Bochy. The biggest concern, however, is Posey's ability to run the bases. [San Jose Mercury News]

Free agent designated hitter (well, I guess he could play outfield, too, but that's probably a stretch) Johnny Damon is still looking for work. And the Orioles have not ruled out signing the 38-year-old, CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman has learned. Of course, Heyman also reports nothing is imminent.

It's a bit surprising Damon hasn't been signed by now. He hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 homers, 29 doubles and seven triples last season. Of course, previous Heyman reports have indicated Damon's asking price has been too high. If he's desperate enough to accept a meager fee like, say, $3 million just to hit for a full season, there might be more suitors.

The lingering storyline with Damon is his pursuit of 3,000 hits. He currently has gathered 2,723 in his career. For the past three seasons, he's averaged 151 hits, so he needs two more full seasons and then he probably gets there. It can't be a secret what that number might mean. The only players to ever have 3,000 hits are either: 1. In the Hall of Fame; 2. headed there (Craig Biggio, Derek Jeter); 3. Being held out (Pete Rose due to his ban and Rafael Palmeiro due to his failed drug test). So if Damon reached 3,000, it's reasonable to believe he'd have a shot at enshrinement. If not, he's not getting in.

The revolting story of former Red Sox clubhouse manager Donald J. Fitzpatrick has devolved into what the Boston Globe's Bob Hohler calls "the worst sexual abuse scandal in Major League Baseball history." Holher reports:

"Eight more men have made sexual abuse allegations against former Red Sox clubhouse manager Donald J. Fitzpatrick, in what has become the worst sexual abuse scandal in Major League Baseball history.

The eight men, including two former batboys for the Baltimore Orioles, have come forward since two former Sox clubhouse attendants accused Fitzpatrick in December of sexually abusing them as teenagers at Fenway Park. The allegations, when added to similar allegations levied decades ago, bring to 20 the number of men who have accused Fitzpatrick of molesting them between the 1960s and 1990s."

Fitzpatrick has passed on, and, as Hohler notes, the statute of limitations has expired on most of his crimes. No matter how the legal proceedings play out, stories such as this one necessarily don't end well.

Highly-respected defensive analysts John Dewan and Ben Jedlovec have released their Fielding Bible projections for the 2012 Major League Baseball season, with the Tampa Bay Rays being projected as the best defense in the majors and the Miami Marlins proejected to have the worst.

The system used in the Fielding Bible is "defensive runs saved," which doesn't only factor in errors, it also uses range and player placement to determine how many runs a defense either saves pitchers or costs them. Clubs with a positive score are said to have defensively saved pitchers runs while those with a negative score have cost their pitching stuff some runs.

Last season, the Rays were the best in the majors with a +85 score. That's quite a feat, saving 85 runs for your pitching staff. On the flip side, the Marlins checked in with a -75, which is flat-out atrocious.

This season, the projections have the Rays saving 42 runs and the Marlins at a -30.

The Phillies made the highest leap from last year's score to this year's projection, going from a -59 ('11 score) to +6. Losing Raul Ibanez from left field helps, as does having a full season of Hunter Pence and someone other than Ryan Howard manning first base for a few months, the press release for the Fielding Bible noted.

Other teams with projections showing a big improvement from last season were the Mariners, Rangers, Yankees and A's (though the A's are still projected in the negative).

The clubs expected to take the biggest hit defensively are the Astros (going from 12th ranked to 25th) and Dodgers (11th to 24th). Losing Pence and Michael Bourn for the first half of the season has to be a major part of the Astros slide. The Tigers -- with Miguel Cabrera shifting to third base -- Brewers, Padres and Rockies are also projected to fall down the Fielding Bible standings.

Scott. who was injured and didn't play in the Orioles' victory over the Red Sox on the final day of the season, said his teammates were pulling for the Rays to take the final playoff spot from the Red Sox.

"Just their arrogance," Scott said. "The fans come in and they take over the city. They're ruthless. They're vulgar. They cause trouble. They talk about your family. Swear at you. Who likes that? When people do that, it just gives you more incentive to beat them. Then when things like [the last game of last season] happen, you celebrate even more. You go to St. Louis -- classiest fans in the game. You do well, there's no vulgarity. You know what? You don't wish them bad."

He added that the team's celebration went up a notch moments after the Orioles won when the Rays' Evan Longoria homered to knock the Red Sox out of the playoffs.

"Everybody's giving high-fives, then all of a sudden [Longoria] homers," Scott said. "Everybody's in the clubhouse and it's like, Bam! And we're like, 'Go home Boston! Pack your bags. See you next year.'"

Then on his way home, Scott even taunted Boston fans.

"It was like someone shot their dog. I rolled down the window and I'm like, 'Ah, hah, sucks doesn't it, when someone laughs or makes fun of you when things aren't going your way.'"

I'm guessing when the Rays and Red Sox play this year, the Sox fans may ratchet up their "ruthless" and "vulgar" ways.

Baez, 34, may have been forced into retirement by a lack of interest from big-league clubs. He had a 6.25 ERA and 1.56 WHIP last season for the Phillies. He also coughed up 43 hits while striking out only 18 in 36 innings.

Baez is a one-time All-Star, as he made the game as a member of the then-Devil Rays in 2005. He saved 41 games that season. For a three-year stretch, Baez was a quality closer. He averaged 32 saves per season with a 3.42 ERA from 2003-05.

The Pirates wrapped up arbitration season on Thursday, beating Garrett Jones and settling with Casey McGehee on a one-year deal before heading to the arbitration room.

Jones was the seventh and final player to head to his arbitration hearing this winter, with owners taking a decisive 5-2 victory in 2012. Last season only three cases went to arbitration, with the players winning two (both against the Marlins -- the arbitrators must have felt sorry for them having to wear those new uniforms).

In a nutshell, the way arbitration works is that the player and team swap demands and after both sides make their cases, three arbitrators pick one number or the other -- in Jones' case, the arbitrators picked the team's offer of $2.25 million instead of Jones' demand of $2.5 million. Or, at any point before the door closes on the hearing room, the two sides can compromise. That's what the Pirates did with McGehee, settling at $2.5375 million, more or less between his request of $2.75 million and the team's offer of $2.35 million.

Because the hearings are so late in the offseason, most teams budget for the worst-case scenario with their arbitration-eligible players and the final result really on effects the guy signing the check and the guy cashing the check.

But hey, what's the fun of having winners and losers if you don't have a scoreboard. So here's looking back at this year's arbitration cases.